Valiant Defence

Overlord Merich of Tynan led a large force to defend Ossorco IV from an alliance of Tyranids and Blood Angels threatening to sweep into the outer defence zone of our starport under construction on the southern continent.

He took ten squads of troops, 67 in all, one squad embarked aboard the Ghost Ark NNV Stoic Resistance. A Triarch Stalker, the Annihilation Barge NNV Entropic Killer, the Doomsday Ark NNV Thunderer joined him with two lords and a cryptek as his lieutenants. In reserve, the Doom Scythes NNV Scimitar of Darkness and Herald of Destiny. In all force strength was 1991.

We held three objectives, each with six warriors, as did our enemy. On the left a squad of ten warriors commanded by a lord, across our front four more squads of six, one led by a cryptek. In reserve Merich himself at the head of eight warriors and the Ghost ark with seven aboard was on the left in reserve. The second lord commanded the squad holding the central objective. The stalker and Annihilation barge were central and on the right centre respectively in the forward line, the longer ranged Thunderer deep on the right.

The Tyranids had a mother creature on both flanks, both spawning termagants. Gene stealers and hive guard would advance against our right, gargoyles faced our left. The Blood Angels commander was deep back on our left with a squad and the two other marine squads held their other objectives. Two predator tanks lined up in the centre screened by more of the ubiquitous termagants.

We seized the initiative and launched our attack before planetary dawn, almost destroying the lead termagant squad and inflicting losses on the enemy front including the destruction of one of the tanks. The gargoyles on our left also took losses and their assault attempt was driven back by accurate gauss volleys. The enemy tried to foil our reserves arrival without success, both our doom scythes appearing.

On the left the gargoyles were cut to pieces by our warriors and the Scimitar of Darkness and their lone survivor fell back as death ray, tesla and gauss fire ripped into that flank. A brain stealer was destroyed, but the mother creature continued to spawn replacement creatures as fast as we cut down the termagants. On the right, the mother creature stopped spawning early. The doomsday ark laid down fire on deep enemy marines inflicting casualties.

Our cryptek-led squad forward on the left was now destroyed by the surviving enemy tank and the large warrior squad on the left fell back under heavy fire before rallying despite 70% losses in the face of another failed assault by recently birthed termagants. Our Doom Scythes got amongst the rear enemy units damaging the marines at the rear and the gene stealers, Hive guard and marines facing our right. The Triarch stalker detonated the second marine tank forward. The gene stealers were also being picked off as they tried to advance against our right hand warriors.

The second mother creature finished breeding, but the damage was already done with sixty one replacements generated already. The marine warlord aided by termagants assaulted round the left flank wiping out our warrior squad forward on that side. The annihilation barge fell to enemy barrage now and the enemy gene stealers and brood lord assaulted in the centre, almost destroying the forward unit there but now down to just one gene stealer and the brrod lord.

The Herald of Destiny had been shot down and the stalker joined the Entropic Killer as a wreck, but the Scimitar of Darkness turned back and headed towards our lines, boxing the tyrannid warlord and his bodyguard between the Ghost and Doomsday arks. Though they had destroyed our warriors holding the central objective, they were now enveloped in fire from the broadside weaponry of the Thunderer and Stoic Resistance, the death rays and tesla of the Scimitar and other units too, wiping them out.

The enemy assault now reached our left flank, a few straggling termagants making it through to our warriors and the formidable librarian warlord of the blood angels also arriving. They seized the objective though our lord here too escaped destruction. The Scimitar of Darkness was finally brought down, crashing onto the Thunderer whose shields fortunately protected it from the impact. Meanwhile on the right our fire had done for the mother creature there and we held the right hand objective with two squads.

The engagement ended at this point, the enemy holding four objectives, ourselves only one despite having killed one warlord and achieved first blood. They also had won the line breaker objective. Taking account of the objective values, it was eight five to the enemy. Marine losses were estimated at a third of their troops plus the two tanks, possibly 50% of their forces in all.

The tyrannids had lost several units of termagants, probably around two thirds of the estimated eighty deployed. They lost half their hive guard and two out of three monstrous creatures, 90% of their gargoyles, their warlord and gene stealers. Probably about 70% losses overall. The combined enemy force had probably lost about eight complete units with five or six more seriously compromised.

We withdrew with the Thunderer and Stoic Resistance, two lords and the Overlord plus three squads of warriors, one depleted by a third. Strength of the forces that escaped amounted to 842, a loss rate of 57% with eleven units totally eliminated. The enemy overall strength remaining was probably little more than this.